The example of one whom Allah has guided after misguidance and granted success to certainty, by which he distinguishes between the truthful and the false, the guided and the misguided, is like one who was dead, and Allah gave him life and made for him a light by which he walks among the people, shining with it. He distinguishes some of them from others and separates between their good and those who remain in misguidance, stumbling in darkness, unable to escape from it or be freed. The meaning of His saying, 'Is he who is in darkness not coming out of it,' is that he is in darkness and is not coming out of it. This is similar to His saying, 'The example of the Paradise which the righteous have been promised is that it has rivers,' meaning this is its description, which is His saying, 'It has rivers.' It has been adorned for the disbelievers, meaning it has been adorned by Satan, or by Allah, the Exalted, as He said, 'We have adorned for them their deeds.' This is indicated by His saying, 'And thus We have made in every city its great criminals,' meaning: just as We made in Mecca its leaders to plot therein, so We made in every city its great criminals for that reason. Its meaning is: We left them to plot. [The saying 'We left them to plot' is due to the fact that He, the Exalted, does not create evil according to the Mu'tazilites, but creates it like good according to the Ahl al-Sunnah. Likewise, His saying, 'And whoever intends to mislead him...' and 'And thus We give some of the wrongdoers to others.'] And We did not stop them from plotting, and He specified the great ones because they are the ones who lead to misguidance and plot against the people, as His saying, 'We commanded its affluent ones.' It has been read: 'the greatest of its criminals,' as in your saying: they are the greatest of their people, and the great ones of their people. 'And they do not plot except against themselves,' because their plotting will return upon them. This is a consolation for the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and a promise of victory over them. It has been narrated that Al-Walid ibn Al-Mughirah said: 'If prophethood were true, I would be more deserving of it than you, for I am older than you and have more wealth than you.' It has been narrated that Abu Jahl said: 'We competed with Banu Abd Manaf for honor, and when we became like two racehorses, they said: 'Among us is a prophet who receives revelation.' By Allah, we will never accept him or follow him unless he brings us revelation like that which comes to him.' So this was revealed. And similar to this is His saying, 'Rather, every person among them wants to be given scrolls spread out.'